In late December 1678, a gang of roughly twenty men targeted a wealthy resident of Hatton Garden by impersonating officers carrying a warrant to search the house for dangerous persons. Once admitted, the intruders revealed the deception: they forced the owner at gunpoint into an inner room, locked him inside, and began stripping the property of valuables. The robbery unraveled when someone escaped and raised the alarm. Several of the conspirators were arrested two days later while attempting to dispose of the stolen goods, which were recovered. George Brown, John Butler, Richard Mills, Christopher Bruncker, and George Kenian were convicted and hanged at Tyburn on 22 January 1678/79. The episode established an early pattern for Hatton Garden's later reputation as a place where immense concentrations of portable wealth attracted organized and audacious criminals.
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AI concept artworkArchive Record · 1670s
The 1678 Hatton Garden Jewel-Raiders Who Were Hanged at Tyburn
Hatton Garden jewellery quarter / 1670s
In late December 1678, a gang of roughly twenty men targeted a wealthy resident of Hatton Garden by impersonating officers carrying a warrant to search the house for dangerous persons. Once admitted, the intruders revealed the deception: they forced the owner at gunpoint into an inner room, locked him inside, and began stripping the property of valuables. The robbery unraveled when someone escaped and raised the alarm. Several of the conspirators were arrested two days later while attempting to dispose of the stolen goods, which were recovered. George Brown, John Butler, Richard Mills, Christopher Bruncker, and George Kenian were convicted and hanged at Tyburn on 22 January 1678/79. The episode established an early pattern for Hatton Garden's later reputation as a place where immense concentrations of portable wealth attracted organized and audacious criminals.
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